ANIME CLASSICS – GHOST IN THE SHELL (Kōkaku Kidōtai)

• dir Mamoru Oshii
• 1995 / Japan / 83mins / Japanese with English subtitles
• Doors: 7pm / Intro + Film: 7:30pm / Food served to 9pm / Event: 18+

A cyborg policewoman and her partner hunt a mysterious and powerful hacker called the Puppet Master.

GHOST IN THE SHELL is a real head trip on many levels, but it’s Kenji Kawai’s incredible score we’re looking forward to bringing to Rule Zero the most; it should sound sublime on the over-specified sound kit installed in the basement. The film’s otherwise silent montage tour of “New Port City” is a world-building masterclass, matching BLADE RUNNER for its tonal power.

Set in 2029, our contemporary realities are rapidly catching up with this visionary story of a sentient computer virus seeking a physical home and how the proliferation of government owned tech is corrupting our autonomy. GHOST IN THE SHELL is based on the manga of the same name by Masamune Shirow and was a Japanese/British co-production using traditional cel animation and CGI.

“A dizzying film, a real evolutionary leap in the dark that anticipated our dependence on digital connection and our tendency to cede our identity and presence to the web. There is violence, alienation, kinky tech-porn here: it is sometimes bafflingly opaque, but always bristling with ideas.”

Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

ANIME CLASSICS is a celebration of Japanese animation, hosted by queer film fanatic Token Homo (BAR TRASH). All films screen in Japanese with English subtitles and an introduction. Tickets £3.